“I’m sure they will take him if they think it’s the right thing,” said Kimi Raikkonen during the Hungarian Grand Prix press conference. “I don’t see that age will be the problem, it’s about experience and all the rest. He might be ready, he might not. Time will tell.”

Paul di Resta said it was too soon to judge whether Sirotkin was ready for F1:

“It’s unfair to say anything about him. I don’t think anyone knows too much about him because he’s not been in racing cars too long.”

However Lewis Hamilton had doubts the Russian driver would be ready: “I wasn’t ready at 18,” he said, “and I was pretty good at 18.”

Current Sauber driver Esteban Gutierrez said the rumours over Sirotkin joining the team didn’t have an immediate effect on his future with the team:

“That really doesn’t make a difference in my current season, to be honest. My focus is here, it’s in this season, and I know very well what I have with the team, what has been my path with them in the last few years, and what we are looking into the future.”

@andae23 At 18, Lewis was beginning to dominate in Formula Renault UK…
I think he missed the point completely..

Having said that I think Sirotkin’s not just a ‘pay’ driver as most ‘avid motorsport fans’ suggest, but I believe 2013 will be too early..give him another year in WSR, I say, and you’lL have a future champion.

Dude, you’re being a bit harsh here: Sirotkin is definitely not just another pay driver, far from it. From the comments below I can see that he’s just frustrated that people seem to think he’s just another pay driver, without knowing about his performances in Formula Renault 3.5 or even taking the effort to Google him. And I agree, that’s frustrating.

If he’s so good, he needs to be given the time to mature and adapt to F1 cars before joining F1. Another year in his current formula and make him part of the 4 new f1 testing sessions and young drivers test next year. Then if he shows the speed, move him into F1. If not, they should let him move up to GP2 and continue to let him test the F1 cars until he is ready. Just throwing him into F1 next season would be a bad move, and I’m 99.9% sure he’ll not be ready and will obviously be called a paydriver because of being unprepared even if there is talent deep within him.

I don’t know much about that kid. I’ve just been watching an Italian F3 video of him, not bad at all. Is he ready? I don’t think so. But Jaime Alguesuari was very young (I think baraly 19) when he joined Toro Rosso and he did a respectable job for a young chap.

It’s easy to see why they are so eager to put Sirotkin on the grid for the next season. It’s not only the money he brings, but also MAJOR marketing opportunities. First, he’ll be the youngest driver to start in F1, and given that he’s not half as bad as many think, it’ll give Sauber a lot of exposure. And, of course, second – Sochi. The first Russian GP in 100 years. Russian investors (not to mention audiences) NEED a Russian driver on the grid. With all the local love for symbolism and drawing parallels, Sirotkin is perfect for that.

Age itself isn’t a problem… it doesn’t matter if you’re 18 or 35, if you’re not experienced enough, then you shouldn’t get to drive. I mean, Yuji Ide got to drive and he was quite “old” in comparision to other newcomers.

The problem is F1 being a school these days. It shouldn’t be like that, drivers should arrive to what’s called the pinnacle of motorsports and know a thing or two about what they are doing. I mean, it shouldn’t be a place to learn how to drive, how to race…

This goes beyond Sirotkin. Recent GP2 champions have been critiziced quite a lot… maybe the way the feeder series is working is not spot on. That, no proper way of letting the new ones get mileage in the F1 races and the “pay drivers” debate (which will always happen, IMO, unless F1 teams don’t need money to develop themselves… which won’t happen) makes the situation look quite bad.

There is the odd example (Kimi for instance), but I’m not sure what to say about this fella. Hopefully Sauber (and more importantly the russian bussinessmen that support him in this project) will hold it at least another year.

On merit the choice is quick between Sirotkin and Frijn, yet they don’t seem to have the same option for F1 debut … It’s becoming more and more frequent in F1 and quite alarming. Hopefully we still got some world champion on the grid who are totally capable : Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton, Button to which we can add some talented drivers but which are not always consistant.

But that’s not with paydrivers that they will fill tomorrow’s grid with interesting drivers. How many actual young driver on the grid looks promising ? Bianchi ? Hulkenberg (still need to see him in a proper car) ?

Actually Hulkenberg is very very unlucky as far as the car goes . Maybe his sponsors don’t have a mine full of money . First in a Williams where he takes pole in Brazil , then reserve in a Force India followed by a drive one year later , then a Sauber move which proved very costly . It would be good if he can move to Lotus or Ferrari in future .

are you implying the superlicense can be just bought? getting a paydriver is one thing (i have no problem with that whatsoever, especially since i believe Sirotkin is actually talented), but willingly placing an untested driver on the grid, and thus endangering everyone around him just for money is borderline criminal.

just to make it clear – i actually WANT to see him on the grid next year, i just can’t figure out how exactly he’ll get enough training in the remaining time without a simulator of superlicence to take part in Friday sessions.

I understand Sauber’s position. They were in a very difficult financial situation and if stabilizing the team means taking a Russian pay driver then so be it. They had to think of the 300 odd people working in the team. Hopefully results will be better next year and they will be able to attract more sponsors. As long as this kid isn’t sticking in the barriers every weekend it should be alright.

I understand Sauber’s position. They were in a very difficult financial situation and if stabilizing the team means taking a Russian pay driver then so be it. They had to think of the 300 odd people working in the team. Hopefully results will be better next year and they will be able to attract more sponsors. As long as this kid isn’t sticking in the barriers every weekend it should be alright.

I’m a big fan of Sirotkin, I think he’s got massive potential, and he’s definitely going to be in F1 at some point, maybe even next year. I just hope it’s not too early and tarnishes his reputation. I’d like to see him join F1 at around the same time Vandoorne does, and go into the same team. Unlikely, but that’d be fantastic to see.

That again? Ok, we get it; you hate the guy but perhaps you should consider how these wicked accusations about the most straight forward and honest guy we have in the field eats away your own credibility. Just a hint.

Nico Rosberg tested one at 17 didn’t he, and with all the gaming and simulation going on these days it’s probably the kids who’ll have an advantage over the old guys, judging by Schumacher’s senior moments last year when he wiped out Senna and Vergne.

But I guess (as Raikkonen says) it’s like the difference between Bottas at the beginning of 2012 and the beginning of 2013. No more racing at all, but a whole lot of understanding about how the F1 team operates.

Why is this the first time I have heard his name? Which category does he race in at the moment? Why is there roumer of a driver change for next year coming in July anyway? Is this kid amazing? This article confuses me.

@rob-wilson – Sirotkin is currently racing in Formula Renault 3.5, where he has had some good results, but has mostly been let down by mechanical problems or been on the receiving end of stupid moves by other drivers. For the most part, he can hold his own against Antonio Felix da Cost.

I guess that’s because you follow only GP2 among junior formulae categories. He’s currently in his first full season in the ultra-competitive Formula Renault 3.5 series, and is in ninth place. Two years ago, he beat more experienced drivers to win the Formula Abarth championship in his first full season in cars, whilst last year, he did a double campaign in Auto GP and Italian F3, finishing 3rd in the former (beaten by a GP3 graduate and a GP2 graduate respectively), and 5th in the latter.

@mike-dee Because 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th have all at least one full season’s experience in Formula Renault 3.5. The guy in 4th has done GP2 before. Only the guy in 2nd is in the same boat as Sirotkin. That guy is Stoffel Vandoorne and he will definitely come to F1 as long as he retains his backing from McLaren..

@wsrgo So Stoffel Vandoorne will come to F1 next season as well? That’s news to me (and my Avatar gives a hint about my location).

See, Sirotkin is probably a fairly good driver. But I think there were many in his position before, and they did not get the promise of an F1 race seat without ever having driven an F1 car before, or having at least had much better results than 9th in Formula Renault 3.5.

Nobody would have complained had they announced that he will be driving in the FP1 sessions for the rest of this season. And had he shown a great performance there, nobody would have complained if he then got a race seat next year.

But after half a season of Formula Renault 3.5, being 9th in the standings, getting an essentially guaranteed F1 race seat for next season is ridiculous. (And I think the good results in lower formulas should be discounted as they don’t necessarily have a lot of meaning for Formula 1.)

Ok @wsrgo . I am not negating or assuming anything about Sirotkin. He may be the next Kimi or even better . But what probably @mike-dee says is that if the system is based on talent and experience alone the others should have had a chance . It’s not that the other drivers are 30 somethings to reject them on the basis of age.

However , I think Sponsors do play a big role . So we have to broaden our definition of a pay driver to include talented ones also . And again wsrgo , I am not insulting anybody here . For all we know , he may be the next big thing .

Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel broke all sorts of youngest ever records and still they made some really stupid moves in their first few seasons.
However Sirotkin will have the advantage that he will get a full season and doesn’t need to beat his team-mate in the first race. If he uses this then he can proof critics like me wrong.

Perhaps the FIA need to make some sort of minimum age rule for F1 before we end up with 14 yard olds on the grid. Of course the FIA being what it is, any rule they make usually has multiple escape clauses.

As for Sirotkin, I’m open to the possibility that he’s the greatest driver ever born. But for his own good and the good of other drivers, he still needs to put in a little more time in junior classes before moving to F1.

Ignoring the (seemingly unfounded) pay-driver accusations for a moment, and concentrating purely on his age, I don’t see why its an issue in itself; all sports seem to become progressively younger over time, i.e the people taking part in them. Football is a good example, where teenagers in the first-team are now common, though that sport (obviously) does not have the safety concerns involved in F1. Not the best, but the only reasonable comparison is kimi, and lets not forget the initial doubts some had of him: